A MAN told his girlfriend to do the dishes before gouging and strangling her in their home when she was naked after he’d pulled off her dressing gown.

Delme Marks, 27, from Blaina screamed at her: “Get up off your fat, lazy a*** and clean the kitchen.”

The defendant also punched her in the face and spat at her, Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, said.

The couple had been in a volatile on/off relationship for some time before he brutally assaulted her last December.

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Marks had been taunting the woman calling her a “skip rat” continuously in the build up to the violence.

Mr Griffiths told Swansea Crown Court: “He then absolutely flipped and he was in her face.

“The defendant grabbed her by the neck, putting his hands around it.

“He then took his hands away and started to throw punches.

“The defendant put one of his thumbs into her left eye causing her significant discomfort and pain.

“He then spat in her face.”

The shocking attack was fuelled by alcohol.

Marks, of Abertillery Road, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The defendant has no previous convictions for domestic abuse.

He was jailed for two years in 2019 after he killed a friend in a crash on a country road between Blaenavon and Brynmawr.

The defendant was locked up after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drugs.  

Jeffrey Jones representing Marks said: “The strangulation was short-lived and it would appear as if it never resulted in a claim of the victim having lost consciousness or having struggled for breath.

“He is contrite and he feels a lot of guilt for his behaviour.”

The court heard how Marks had already served the equivalent of a nine-month prison sentence after he had been held on remand following his arrest.

Mr Jones added how the defendant had lost a full-time, “well-paid job” during that period.

Recorder David Elias KC told Marks: “You have to learn to control your temper.”

He jailed him for 19 months but suspended it for 18 months after he told the defendant there was the prospect of rehabilitation in his case.

Marks has to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, attend 29 sessions of a “Building Better Relationships” course and complete 10 sessions of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

The defendant was also made the subject of a restraining order.